At the risk of criminal understatement, it will not be a surprise when Bobby Valentine is fired after the season ends. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t surprising when the team’s GM goes on the radio and says that he’s going to be running a managerial search this winter without first, you know, actually firing the current manager.

“I’d always rather get the decision right than rush it,” Cherington said. “But what we know we need to do is hit the ground running this offseason. One of the things that, as I look back on last offseason, that didn’t go perfectly was simply the amount of time that we spent on the manager search and what that did to the rest of the offseason and I would like to spend less time on it this offseason, that’s for sure.”

Man, if it wasn’t for the fact that by doing so he’d forfeit the $2.5 million he’s owed for 2013, if I was Valentine I’d quit today. And I do it loudly and in such a way as to make clear how jerked around I’ve felt all season.

I mean, no, he hasn’t had a good year by any stretch of the imagination and yes, he has made things worse with a lot of his behavior and decisions, but the manner in which he was used and abused by this team, the front office and the media has been ridiculous. His very hiring was part of some palace intrigue between the team’s president and the GM. He’s been a scapegoat for problems that existed before he was hired and would have been present no matter who had the job. And now his boss is going on the radio and talking about his replacement before he’s even gone.

Because of the contract Valentine has no choice but to sit quietly and wait to be fired, but this really is bush league, unprofessional crap.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports Thursday that the Orioles “are said to have begun fielding calls of interest” on superstar Manny Machado and “are close to the point of seriously weighing whether to trade him.”

You’d think it would be a no-brainer for the last-place O’s to flip Machado — an impending free agent — for prospects, but Heyman notes there is “still a question whether or not longtime Orioles owner Peter Angelos” will give the go-ahead. One person familiar with the situation put it a “50-50” likelihood. Another suggested that it would take a massive return, which, sure.

Machado entered play Thursday with a sensational .328/.405/.635 batting line, 15 home runs, and an MLB-leading 43 RBI in 49 games. It’d be a real shock if he’s still wearing an O’s uniform by the end of July.

Heyman reported previously that at least nine teams made aggressive plays for Machado this winter, including the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Indians, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, and Cardinals. A whole lot of those teams still make sense here in late May — maybe all of them except the White Sox.